Manohar Lal Khattar, who is stated to be close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was unanimously elected leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party legislature party, paving the way for his becoming the first chief minister of the saffron party in Haryana.
The SAD has been requesting the Centre not to introduce the three agriculture-related bills for the approval of Parliament until all reservations expressed by farmers' organisations, farmers and farm labourers are addressed, Badal said.
Polling will be held in all 13 seats in Punjab and an equal number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, nine in West Bengal, eight seats each in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, four in Himachal Pradesh, three in Jharkhand and the lone seat Chandigarh.
Five-time former Punjab chief minister and Shiromani Akali Dal patriarch Parkash Singh Badal, who was admitted to a private hospital in Mohali over a week ago, died on Tuesday. He was 95.
Leaders from all political parties welcomed the conviction of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a case related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
Before his legislative assembly debut this time, he has been elected twice as a Member of Parliament from Sangrur.
Consolidating its position, the Bharatiya Janata Party wrested high-profile Rampur and Azamgarh Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh from the Samajwadi Party and won three assembly seats, including that of Chief Minister Manik Saha, in Tripura in by-election results announced on Sunday.
In an apparent move to avoid stoking a fresh controversy as the Bharatiya Janata Party comes to terms with a bitter separation from the Janata Dal-United, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has declined an invitation to visit Ayodhya, his office said on Tuesday.
The Congress won this seat after the 2009 Lok Sabha poll when Congress candidate Partap Singh Bajwa had won.
Aam Aadmi Party candidate Sushil Rinku on Saturday won the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-election, defeating his nearest rival and Congress nominee Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary by a margin of 58,691 votes.
Amarinder, who is also former Punjab Chief Minister, has sent his resignation to the Lok Sabha Speaker, copy of which was released to the media here, and has also sought a personal meeting with the Speaker next week.
Nearly 4,800 elected MPs and MLAs will vote on Monday to elect the 15th President of India, with National Democratic Alliance candidate Droupadi Murmu having a clear edge over Opposition's Yashwant Sinha as over 60 per cent votes are expected to be cast in her favour.
The Aam Aadmi Party has sought the setting aside of Tuesday's election, alleging tampering of ballot papers, and fresh elections under the supervision of a retired high court judge.
Bharti accused the media of distorting her statement, attributing it to the BJP's agenda.
'We always had a doubt that Sidhu would not campaign against the Badals.'
In the 35-member municipal House, the BJP has 17 councillors. The number of BJP's strength increased from 14 to 17 after three Aam Aadmi Party councillors switched over to it on February 19. The AAP has 10 members while the Congress has seven. The Shiromani Akali Dal has one councillor.
The list of the 314 MPs, however, does not include Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who is also a BJP MP, they said. The majority mark is 268.
'People belonging to all religions reside in our country and this is our strength that they stay together as a team. Why should you exclude (them)?'
Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Manoj Sonkar on Tuesday defeated Aam Aadmi Party's Kuldeep Kumar to win the post of mayor in the Chandigarh mayoral polls.
Saturday's voting will mark the end to the marathon polling process that began on April 19 month and has already covered 486 Lok Sabha seats in 28 states and Union territories.
Amit Shah wants to increase the party's nationwide vote share by at least 10 per cent from the 37.7 per cent it secured five years ago and ensure above 50 per cent vote share in the states where it came close to that benchmark, but couldn't cross it.
The Nehru-Gandhi scion attacked the Akalis for allegedly plundering Punjab and appealed people to vote for the Congress in the February 4 polls "to transform Punjab".
"We are ready to sacrifice our life and continue with our dharna till we get a job. We have written to the PM, Home Minister Rajnath Singh," says Jagga Singh, the grand nephew of Udham Singh.
At many places, where the voters had entered booths before 6 pm and were standing in queues, they were allowed to cast their votes.
'Congress will try to use Malerkotla to woo Muslim votes in UP. Muslims across the country have definitely taken note of this move in Punjab. But they vote only for a party that can defeat the BJP. The Congress doesn't seem to be capable of doing that'
While I&B Minister Manish Tewari seems desperate for the Chandigarh Lok Sabha seat, the Congress leadership is having a tough time choosing the right candidates. Anita Katyal reports
The order came on the petition filed by Kuldeep Kumar, an Aam Aadmi Party councillor, who challenged the administration's order to postpone the polls.
With less than a month left for campaigning to end in Amritsar, the Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate Arun Jaitley is still facing one question in almost all his interactions with media -- Will sitting MP Navjot Singh Sidhu canvass for him?
'There is a communication gap between the Modi government and the allies. During the last one year, the NDA has met only once and that was two hours before the land bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha.' 'When Vajpayee was prime minister if any NDA chief minister asked for time , he was given it the next day. Modi is not doing it.' 'If there is tension on the streets, if there is insecurity amongst the minorities, then Make in India will remain a pipe dream.'
Parliamentarians and legislators across the country voted on Monday to elect India's 15th president, choosing between opposition pick Yashwant Sinha and National Democratic Alliance nominee Droupadi Murmu who is favoured to win the battle to the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
About 40 per cent of sitting MPs have criminal cases registered against them out of which 25 per cent have declared serious criminal cases under charges of murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping and crimes against women, according to poll rights body Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Rashtriya Loktantrik Party convenor and Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal on Saturday announced a split from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance over the Centre's new farm laws.
Should the party expand to Punjab, Bihar and other places, or should it consolidate its gains in Delhi? This was one of the questions before the party when it split sometime back. An answer is yet to emerge.
In a shot in the arm for the Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiromani Akali Dal ahead of Punjab assembly polls, their alliance on Tuesday defeated Congress in the Chandigarh municipal corporation election in which demonetisation had emerged as a key issue.
India on Thursday slammed Pakistan for making "absurd" charges of a chip, camera or a recorder being installed in the footwear of the wife of Jadhav.
It was alleged that Sidhu violated the model code of conduct as he, along with his family, entered the premises of the booth in private cars.
"I challenge Majithia to arrest me in six months as they are in power. Else, I will arrest him after six months," the AAP national convenor said.
"Shouldn't those who killed 92 persons get death sentence?... when should capital punishment be awarded?" the 46-year-old controversial politician asked.
'The chief minister has said on the floor of the House that he knows everything (about the criminal-politician mafia).' 'If you know about this nexus, why aren't you acting against them?' 'Ask him why is he so helpless.'
Sidhu was in Patiala to take part in a protest against inflation when the Supreme Court verdict came in.
